Man drives dead woman from Arizona to Metro Detroit in passenger seat

WARREN, MI -- Warren police say a 62-year-old man drove more than 2,000 miles from near Sun City, Ariz. to Warren in Metro Detroit with a dead woman in his van most of the way.

With his 92-year-old mother in his van, police say the man, a resident of Clinton Township yet to be named, picked up the 31-year-old Roseville woman with whom he's been "intimate" from a mental health facility in Arizona, Warren Police Detective Sergeant Stephen Mills said in a statement Wednesday.

He picked her up on May 28, they returned to his second home near Sun City and set off for Michigan the following evening.

"During the trip back to Michigan, they stopped in Flagstaff for gas," police officials said in Thursday's statement. "At that time the 31-year-old passenger exited the vehicle and may have used the rest room.

"Upon returning to the van the 31 year old put on her seat belt and went to sleep."

Police said it's believed the woman ingested oxycodone pills, the generic name for OxyContin, during the pit stop and never awoke, according to WJBK, Fox 2 News.

About 5 a.m. the following morning police say the Clinton Township man realized his passenger, who by then was "slumped forward" and was "cold to the touch," had died.

The man then consulted the Internet via his smart phone for the proper protocol to handle corpses and deduced it would be OK to transport the dead body the remainder of the 1,000-plus mile trip. Based on his research, the 62-year-old believed he had 48 hours to present the corpse to a medical examiner and, due to his "rural and desolate location," decided to finish the drive home with the corpse in his passenger seat.

Police told Fox 2 the man put sunglasses on the woman and stuffed animals in her lap; The van's air conditioning quit soon after departing Arizona and the man's mother was unable to to exit the vehicle to use the bathroom throughout the 26-hour trek.

"Somewhere in Illinois the 62-year-old driver is contacted by law enforcement requesting that he stop and contact law enforcement," the Warren police statement says. "The driver is contacted again while in the area of I-94 and 8 Mile by Clinton Township (police) instructing him to pull over. He advises the dispatch personnel that he is going to drive to his sons home on Blackett in the City of Warren."

Police met the man when he arrived at his son's home. He's been questioned by not arrested.

Police say he's been cooperative and there were no signs of foul play.

Mills said the department will conclude its investigation and consult someone knowledgeable on "obscure" death laws.

The investigation is expected to be submitted to the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office for a determination of criminal liability.

"I've been doing this for 20 years; this is the first time" I've seen something like this, Mills said. "I don't want to say it isn't (illegal), but I don't want to say it is."